


what's a queen to a dragon (what's a dragon to the stars)

by desperheaux



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternative Universe - Kingdom, F/F, Fluff, Humor, alternative title: minji smiles and suddenly becomes the face of the dragons rights movement, dragon!cherrypie and uh handong is a magical shapeshifting warrior cat... yea., feat. queen!minji werewolf!siyeon captain!bora halflef!yubin dragonborne!yoo regentofchaos!gahyeon, which was previously composed of 2(yoo) sort-of people
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:26:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28474641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desperheaux/pseuds/desperheaux
Summary: All is well in the Kingdom of Polaris, if you innocently overlook Bora's screeches about the unfairness of certain werewolf traditions. Queen Minji tries her best to rule with grace and poise; really, she does, and the songs of bards across the land and the happiness of her people within Polaris are evidence of her success.But then Crown Princess Gahyeon loses her cat.And even with Bora as Captain of the Guard, and Gahyeon as her little sister, nothing in Minji's royally exasperating life could have prepared her for the chaos that follows.
Relationships: Han Dong | Handong/Lee Gahyeon/Lee Yubin | Dami, Kim Bora | SuA/Lee Siyeon, Kim Minji | JiU/Kim Yoohyeon
Comments: 31
Kudos: 117





	1. Royal Crown Mandate VII, Section 2: Gahyeon is the Cutest in Polaris

**Author's Note:**

> this has been sitting in my notes since the dragon age, and if I don't get it out now I'll never finish, which is another loss for the happyfluff!jiyoo community :c
> 
> Content Warning for mentions of fantasy-typical violence, mentions of royal parental death, and a jiyoo happy ending.

Across all the lands, the Kingdom of Polaris is known for three things:

The first is its proximity to the glittering Diamond Bay, which provides rich earth perfect for agriculture as well as a bountiful sea-based economy that other kingdoms, inland and across the ocean, can only jealously gaze at from afar. The second is its warm and welcoming atmosphere; visiting allied dignitaries are treated so well they almost always overstay their official schedules, and twice a year the palace throws a grand festival open to people of any kingdom, of all walks of life.

The third and most famous of them all:

The Queen’s smile.

Already, merely seven years into the young Queen’s reign, tales of her beauty and benevolence fill the scrolls of scholars and the songs of bards. She is rumored to have thwarted her own assassination plot simply by conversing with the would-be-killer and offering them hand-made pastries. She encourages her people to come to her directly for concerns and conflicts, and many say they immediately forget their grievances as soon as they enter her warm presence. Seven years prior, the fate of Polaris and its allied kingdoms had been in question upon the tragic death of the former King and Queen, but their eldest daughter has proved to be more than competent. She continues their legacy with nothing less than the grace and intelligence of a true leader, and her famed smile is a symbol of this and the goodness with which she rules.

Currently, atop the small dais in the heart of Polaris’ palace:

Queen Minji wears a dark, extremely displeased scowl.

She leaps to a stand, hand raised in a dangerous command. The cowering figure before her glances back and forth between the Queen’s raised fist and the Captain of the Guard, who cracks her knuckles menacingly from her position directly right of the throne.

“Say that once more, clearly, else I will personally have your head.”

The young woman grimaces sheepishly up at her. “I… sort of lost Dongie?”

The throne room is deathly silent for one long, tense moment. Then the Queen, slowly and deliberately, drops her fist. The Captain of the Guard pounces immediately.

“No! Please!” The young woman wails. “Minji, make her stop!”

“Hold still, you brat!” The Captain growls, managing to wrangle the screaming victim into a headlock, and then digging her knuckles into the crown of her head. She starts shouting too, however, when the young woman bites at her to escape. Together they fall to the plush red carpet beneath them as they begin to wrestle in earnest.

Their shrieks echo around the large room. Thankfully, The Queen has no more scheduled audiences for today, but this wouldn’t be the first time the duo has spooked an innocent citizen passing by the outer gates. She drops back into her throne with a sigh.

“Alright, Bora, that’s enough. Gahyeon, please elaborate?”

Bora hauls Gahyeon to a stand by the back of her royal robes, the sight reminding Minji of a mother dog picking its unruly pup up by the scruff of its neck. She might have been amused, if Gahyeon hadn’t just slunk into the throne room with a trademark sheepish grin, and blurted this unfortunate piece of news.

“Cheater,” Gahyeon mutters to the Captain beside her, shoving her arm off her shoulder. “Siyeon’s been teaching you wolf wrestling techniques, hasn’t she?”

“One thing our little genius doesn’t know,” Bora responds coyly, sticking her tongue out at her.

“Kids, behave.” Minji rubs at her forehead underneath her crown and shoots them both a stern look, ending on the younger of the two. “Princess Gahyeon, _how_ under the stars did you lose Handong?”

The Queen uses her little sister’s official title only in times of business, and this fact is enough to make Gahyeon straighten up and clear her throat. “Sort of. I _sort of_ lost Dongie.”

Bora snorts. “How do you sort of lose the Royal Advisor, the Guardian of the Crown Princess, a whole _magic shapeshifter_?”

Gahyeon’s arms twitch as if to strangle the Captain, but she catches Minji’s serious gaze and tucks her hands neatly behind her back instead. Hesitantly, and then in an avalanche of tangents and backtracks, the Crown Princess explains how exactly she _sort of_ lost an integral member of the makeshift royal family. Bora appears to blank out a minute in. Minji does her best to keep up with the rambling story, but all she catches is that it has something to do with one of Gahyeon’s latest experiments with magic, a bunch of mirrors in the Scar Forest, and a dinghy filled with fish.

“...And then after Dahyun nearly shot Chaewon with the sulfur arrow, we had to beg Arin to sub in for Miyeon in the pig-wrangling part, and you know how Jane gets about me and my flying inventions even though that was literally one time and Yehana forgave me a long time ago for the broken arm, so I was asking around the Everglow Tavern for another ten bags of flour, and that’s when I heard the recent rumors, and _that’s_ when I realized Dongie was missing.”

Minji doesn’t exactly understand how point A got to point B, but this unique roundabout way of making connections where others might not see them is typically how Gahyeon’s mind works, and why she is probably the most intelligent and magic-minded person in Polaris. And also probably the most chaotic princess any kingdom has ever seen.

“You realized Dongie was missing because if she had been there, there’s no way she would have let you near those poor pigs, much less let you subject your friends to your deathtrap inventions.” Bora, surprisingly, seems to have followed Gahyeon’s conclusion.

Minji straightens, alarmed. “Tell me you did not do anything irresponsible.”

Gahyeon grins. “I did. I made pigs fly. It was glorious.” She sneezes, and a cloud of flour settles onto the royal carpet.

Minji sighs again.

Gahyeon’s grin is slightly more apologetic. “Anyway. Aside from my free reign of irresponsibility, it was the rumours I overheard that led me to my conclusion.”

“Tavern gossip?” Bora clicks her tongue. “The only good information that comes from tavern gossip is when Yeeun has acquired new ores for her forge. Everything else is old husbands’ tales. Whispered right in your face with stale ale breath. Ugh.”

Minji eyes her from the side. “Spend a lot of patrol time in taverns, Captain?”

Bora coughs. “...So I’ve heard, anyway. So what were the rumours about, Princess?”

“Scar Forest,” Gahyeon saves her by blurting excitedly. “There have been sightings of something strange deep within its shadows. Dongie _has_ to be there.”

“The rumors that surround Scar Forest change with the frequency of the moon,” Bora dismisses with a wave of her leather gauntlets.

“And yet,” an amused voice, soothing even as it is gruff, calls from the shadows, “some rumors turn out to be true.”

From the discrete doorway that connects the throne room to the rest of the palace, a sturdy figure dressed in dark furs emerges and heads directly to Bora’s other side, pausing only to ruffle the Crown Princess’ and then the Queen’s hair.

“You don’t count, Singnie,” Bora says, feigning indignance despite the warm twinkle in her eye. “The rumors about _you_ said your kind were beasts that would devour me if I stepped into your territory. Turns out the fearsome, ruthless leader of the werewolves is just a cute, cuddly pup.”

The werewolf in question leans in to playfully nip at Bora’s ear. “I can be both, you know.”

“Oh, I know.” Bora swats at her, smirking, but makes no real attempt to prevent her gentle attacks.

Minji fixes her askew crown with a grumble. “If you do not keep your teeth to yourself, Alpha Siyeon, I will have my esteemed Captain dress in full ceremonial armor to future audiences, helmet included.”

“I have a shelf of silver in my alchemy room, if you’d like a custom set made,” Gahyeon pipes in.

Siyeon fixes the sisters with her signature glare, sharp and intense as only a wolf’s can be, but she soon breaks and barks out a sheepish laugh. Stepping a safe distance away from Bora, she asks, “So what’s this about my favorite feline friend and the Scar Forest?”

“The Princess lost her kitty cat, and she thinks she’s in the Forest,” Bora quickly summarizes, before Gahyeon can let loose another rambling explanation.

Siyeon hums. “I see. Is Dongie’s absence related to the white powder on all of your clothes, or is that a separate story?”

“With Gahyeon, everything is somehow part of the same outlandish tale.”

“That’s it!” Gahyeon snaps her fingers, eyes growing wide with her sudden breakthrough. “Do you remember when Dongie first came to us?”

Minji exchanges a wry glance with Bora, who had been Minji’s personal guard at the time. They had both been present when the stray orange tabby in Gahyeon’s arms suddenly transformed into a beautiful woman, and then back into a cat but of the long-fanged panther variety, when Bora had tried to get between her and the Princess with her sword drawn. There had been a lot of hissing (mainly from Bora), a lot of firmly barked orders (mainly from Gahyeon), and a lot of crying over spilled desserts (mainly from Minji). The poor palace kitchens never quite fully recovered from it all.

“I vaguely recall, yes.” Bora rubs at a phantom claw mark beneath her fauld. Which, actually, might have come from the overprotective, petty Guardian cat long after her presence had been accepted in the palace for good.

“The reason she stopped in Polaris was because she sensed an intense concentration of magical potential. That was me!” Gahyeon points both thumbs emphatically at her chest, ignoring the flour that trickles from the seams of her elbow sleeves. “It’s the same story! Cats’ interest rarely sways… she must be snooping around whatever magic has been spotted in Scar Forest. It must be something big and dangerous. There’s no other reason why Dongie would go missing,” Gahyeon solemnly finishes her conjecture with confident fists to her hips. Minji restrains herself from sighing again as another cloud of white dust falls onto her beautiful carpet.

Siyeon arches an eyebrow, and teases the Princess: “Or maybe you have a competitor for her affections. She’s finally found a magical creature cuter and more chaotic than you.” She yelps as Bora elbows her, because for all of their roughhousing, she would never want to see Gahyeon actually hurt.

But Gahyeon only scoffs. “Please. No one is cuter and more chaotic than me. This has been affirmed by both Dongie and the Royal Queen Herself, and is therefore as good as law.”

Minji shrugs. It is true.

Siyeon also shrugs, because it really is true. “Some laws could stand to change.”

“Well, it _is_ a law that the Crown Princess must always have a companion when gallivanting off in public,” Gahyeon says, voice an airy imitation of someone’s lecturing tone, vaguely familiar enough to make Minji narrow her eyes, “so who shall accompany me to Scar Forest in Dongie’s stead?”

“You most certainly will not go to Scar Forest, with or without a companion,” Bora admonishes before Minji can say the exact same thing.

“I agree. Your Highnesses have allies in the wolves, but the Forest is home to far more unpredictable and dangerous beings than even we,” Siyeon adds, serious for once.

Gahyeon whines in protest. “But you know Dongie will only obey orders from me and Minji. If someone else were to find her, she would simply spit a hairball at them.”

“Yes. Yes, she would.” Bora’s face twists as if she speaks from experience.

“I absolutely must go to the Forest,” Gahyeon insists. “Because what if — what if she’s lost, not by choice? What if… she can’t get back home?”

Otherwise her typical humorously clever self, Gahyeon shows vulnerability only in the rarest of moments, and even then still under a veneer of cheeky nonchalance. They all know that Handong is more than capable of taking care of herself. Yet, the young Princess still thought her beloved companion’s absence strange enough to notify her sister, and now her voice begins to wobble, worry bleeding through as her whirlwind of a brain calculates possible scenarios that Handong could now be in without her.

“How about this?” Siyeon sees the panic begin to crease her soft face and swoops in, voice as soothing of a rumble as she can make it. “The Captain and I have business to attend to in the outskirts of the Forest — I came in to fetch her for it, as we must make it to the clan before sunset falls. While we’re there, we can ask around about the rumors, and keep a lookout for the cat, hm?”

Gahyeon looks up at her with glistening eyes and pouty lips, and Minji briefly considers actually proposing a law that mandates Gahyeon as the cutest person in Polaris. From the way Bora and Siyeon immediately move to dote on her, she would have at least two other votes. Three, she reminds herself, and feels a pang of worry herself for her absent Advisor.

“Will you really do that for me?”

“Of course, little kit,” Siyeon hushes, a comforting arm slung around Gahyeon’s shoulders.

Bora nods in agreement, smoothing down Gahyeon’s hair. “We’ll leave immediately. I’ll even bring a pouch full of fish to tempt the silly cat with.”

“A clever, if patronizing idea, but it might not be the best to have meat on your person for this particular event,” Siyeon muses, other arm coming up to sling around Bora’s shoulder.

Bora blanches. Her hands freeze in Gahyeon’s hair as she appears to remember just exactly what werewolf tradition she has the obligation to fulfill, this being her second anniversary as Siyeon’s betrothed. A smirk plays at Minji’s lips; her Captain, despite her smaller stature, possesses a strength and self-assurance that intimidates all who come before her, whether they be friend or foe. It is rather amusing, then, to see stutters in her unyielding presence when it comes to matters involving Siyeon and her clan.

“Well then, fish aren’t necessary. I will simply die. Then I won’t have to experience tonight, and Handong will most certainly appear so she can cough a hairball onto my dead body.”

“You’re so dramatic, love. It’s just a little ceremonial wrestling and hunting. Your specialties.”

“‘A little’?! You all have inhuman strength! Your baby cousin almost crushed me because he accidentally _sat_ on me!”

“Your inaugural howl was the loudest of all the pups last year. Everyone was impressed, even the elders.”

“I was _screaming_ because you jumped off the cliffside with me on your back!” Bora cries.

“Flying wolves,” Gahyeon murmurs to herself, momentarily distracted from her own distress. “Now that’s an idea…”

See, Minji likes to think she is a good Queen. As the face of Polaris, she truly does her best to represent the Crown and her kingdom well. She has maintained her famed smile even when things have gone terribly wrong, and even managed to turn some of the worst of situations into ones of hope and prosperity. Some are unforeseen tragedies, like when her parents set sail for a visit to a kingdom across the ocean, were lost to a storm, and left their barely-of-age daughter to take the reins of one of the most prominent kingdoms in the land. Some are more predictable but no less unfortunate, like the fires that wiped out whole acres of crops during a particularly dry drought and left many people hungry for a season.

Other situations are simply, utterly bewildering.

Like the time she had sent her trusty Captain of the Guard to investigate a farmer’s complaints of fox sightings near his sheep pens, and she came back engaged to the leader of a werewolf clan.

Or the time the stray cat that had attached itself to the Crown Princess’ ankles six moons prior suddenly transformed atop a tray of macarons and magically bound their souls together.

These particular events have somehow turned out to be the best of them all, not only because Polaris has gained the loyalty of two powerful magical beings, but because Minji and Gahyeon have gained two permanent members of their chosen family.

So as three of her favorite people tease each other and the squabbling quickly escalates to a screaming chase around the throne room, Queen Minji lets herself smile, genuine and fond. It is, after all, what Polaris is known for. And somehow, things have always ended up more-or-less alright under her calm, optimistic disposition. She counts on this to assuage her worries, even as Gahyeon sneezes more flour all over her royal robes so violently that Bora trips over Siyeon and almost impales herself on her own sword scabbard.

She forgets, though, what Princess Gahyeon is known for, what Handong would softly warn her of if she were here to advise her now:

Nothing _ever_ goes according to plan, and most certainly never quietly.

Minji smiles, unaware of the chaos to come.


	2. Yoohyeon Mandate I, Section 17: Yubin is the Best Companion in the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At age twelve, Yoohyeon and Yubin got stuck in a tree.
> 
> Now, they are still stuck together. But instead of a tree, there's a dragon.

Across all the lands, with each kingdom’s unique history and culture informing its own set of laws, there is but one they all have in common:

The existence of dragons is forbidden, and the harboring of such a dangerous breed is considered treason, punishable by banishment or, in three kingdoms, death.

Yoohyeon is very aware of this law. She has spent the better half of her life hopping from kingdom to kingdom all over the world, familiarizing herself with each people’s customs and ways of life.

She also happens to be the last dragonborne human on earth.

She knows. She’s checked. Yubin has scoured every historical annal of every province they’ve stepped foot in, and Yoohyeon has fraternized with every shady being in every tavern and underground syndicate they pass through.

The results of their lifelong research:

Everyone hates dragons. To the races of magical creatures that still exist in fair numbers, like the werewolves and the wood elves, regular humans turn an ambivalent eye, so long as they pose no threat to their towns. Even the rumors of a five-member vampire clan in the north are shrugged at, since they only leave their remote castle to purchase animal blood from butcher shops and, for some reason, red velvet cake from the bakeries.

But dragons, in the scrolls and songs of official history and local myths alike, have never been anything but harbingers of destruction. And the dragonborne, those of dragon-blessed lineage, the only ones the ancient beings deemed worthy enough to communicate with and even let ride atop their scaled backs, are just as complicit in their mindlessly harmful deeds. For either atonement or safety, as the dragons were hunted to extinction, the dragonborne also let themselves fade out of existence.

The last sighted dragon returned to the earth over a century ago.

Yoohyeon, the last dragonborne, glares until steam rises from her nostrils, as her loyal companion and alleged best friend juggles a large dragon egg between her dexterous hands.

Yubin casts her an amused glance, which nearly sends Yoohyeon into heart failure since her eyes leave the egg to do so.

“Do be careful; you’ll expose us right away with that hot head of yours.”

“ _Me_ be careful?!” Yoohyeon hisses, eyes flashing a dangerous gray. “You’re the one playing catch with the _only dragon egg in existence!_ ”

Her dismayed cry is loud enough to rouse that strange, orange tabby cat from its nap near the firepit; a haughty thing that had slunk into their makeshift cottage a couple of nights ago with a curiously twitching tail, and has since refused to leave. It opens one lazy eye to hiss up at Yoohyeon. Yoohyeon hisses back.

“You don’t even belong here, cat. Don’t get smart with me.” Not for the first time, she eyes the ornately designed circle around its neck, more of a necklace than a collar, and wonders where the cat came from. More importantly, if its human, dragon-fearing owners will soon come knocking.

Yubin chuckles, but thankfully ceases tossing the egg up and down. “Stimulation for babies is important. I am simply getting it accustomed to flight.” And then, at the unrelenting look Yoohyeon frowns at her with: “Come now, Yoo. I have the dexterity of my mother’s kind. Have you ever seen me drop anything of importance?”

Yoohyeon blinks at her in disbelief. “Yes. Me. You dropped me down a waterfall in Gudan.”

“I said anything of importance.”

The cat stretches, fully awake now, and leaps onto Yubin’s shoulder. Yoohyeon drops dramatically into a cot, lanky limbs splaying out in a show of complete emotional exhaustion. An affronted squeak comes from under her arm. A creature just slightly bigger than the tabby cat struggles out from under Yoohyeon’s deadweight and clumsily flaps to land on Yubin’s other shoulder.

Yoohyeon groans. “Not you too, Pie, you’re supposed to be on my side.”

“Just because you two are bound does not mean Pie will stand to be crushed,” Yubin points out, insufferably smug with the two animals regally perched beside her head. The cat purrs in agreement. The toddler dragon huffs a ring of smoke down at her. Even the speckled egg in Yubin’s hands seems to take on a different tint as a show of solidarity.

“Betrayed by my own brethren,” Yoohyeon mutters, but the glow in her eyes has receded back into its normal rich brown.

For all of the ribbing her companion gives her, she knows it is all in jest. Yubin, even though half of her is human, shows affection as the wood elves do — which is to say, not at all. She has spent as much time the past decade annoying Yoohyeon to death with her clever quips, just as much as she has spent saving her life with her staff and wits. And not once has she looked even vaguely concerned when Yoohyeon complains about having years constantly chipped off her lifespan due to the stress of it all. Still Yoohyeon has never questioned her loyalty or love; they made a solemn oath (or, as solemn as one can get when made by two twelve-year-olds stuck in a tree) to stand forever by each other’s side, and not once have they reconsidered.

Well, maybe Yoohyeon has once, when Yubin had them pretend to be betrothed to stop the jealous wood elf princess Somin from pursuing her. And maybe Yubin has, once, when Yoohyeon quite literally stumbled upon the first dragon egg and insisted she was going to raise it. After all, certain death had been the incumbent penalty for both situations.

But now Somin is half the world away, and Pie has led them to the second of two dragon eggs to be seen in three generations.

Yoohyeon shifts onto her side to gaze upon the newest addition to their magical crew. The green speckles peek out from beneath Yubin’s sure hands, and in the firelight, they make the otherwise pure white shell glimmer with an almost celestial energy. While it doesn’t have the same pull as Pie did, that inexplicable tug like a trail of fire had emblazoned itself in her very soul, it is still mesmerizing to behold. Out of all of the sights and wonders she has seen in their travels across the world, she is convinced that there is nothing more beautiful than the light of a dragon. Pie flutters back to curl around her head. She rumbles contentedly as if sensing Yoohyeon’s reverence for her kind, and Yoohyeon easily forgets her earlier betrayal as they sigh out a light puff of smoke together.

“If it doesn’t hatch soon, do you prefer scrambled, or omelet?”

Pie lets out a scratchy yelp. Yoohyeon chokes. _“Yubin!”_

“I jest, I jest.” Yubin holds the egg with one hand as she raises the other in surrender, and ignores the way Yoohyeon chokes again.

“Yubin, I swear to the stars—”

“But when will it emerge?” Yubin cuts her off with a small, serious frown. “Pie reacted instantly to your presence alone. This one hasn’t done much but turn slightly different shades of white.”

Yoohyeon falls back heavily into the cot. “...I know.”

“It’s one thing to smuggle a mostly self-aware creature the size of a cat along abandoned trails. But we can’t exactly walk down the nearest town market and expect people to believe we just own an exceptionally large hen.” Yubin sets the dragon egg down into its makeshift nest, a bundle of soft cloths set in an appropriate proximity to the stone firepit in the center of the room. Its shell remains the same. Pie uncurls herself to flutter down and nudge it with a curious wing.

Yoohyeon purses her lips. “I know.”

“We’ve already been here a fortnight, Yoo. Pie’s getting bigger by the sunrise. I do not know if you can sense it, but these woods are not exactly empty. Tonight’s a full moon, and those wolf howls we heard yester—”

“By the stars, I _know_ , Yubin! Alright?!”

The hut falls silent, save for the quiet crackling of the small fire. Yoohyeon turns onto her side so she doesn’t have to face the judgmental eyes of her best friend, her bound dragon, and even that stupidly emotive cat. Because while yes, Yoohyeon _knows_ , the fact that she has been running from even as she has blindly chased this quest all this while, is that she actually _doesn’t_ know.

There was no way for young Yoohyeon to hide her dragonborne characteristics, physical quirks that she was never taught to control, but the village that shunned her and left her to survive on her own dismissed it as demons’ work. It wasn’t until, in a blustering, hopeless spurt of determination to figure out _why_ her soul had always yearned to be with the birds and the clouds so much, she climbed the tallest tree she could find and met a half-elf who nonchalantly told her what she really was. And together they went on a decade long journey to figure out what that meant, exactly.

And she still doesn’t know.

She doesn’t know how to raise a dragon whose appetite is ten times larger than a human’s. She doesn’t really know what it means to have her soul bound with one. And she definitely doesn’t know how to make one hatch when it doesn’t seem to want to anytime soon.

“All this to say… we haven’t been to Polaris since we were fifteen. Perhaps if I can figure out Sera’s masking spells, we can afford some sightseeing while we wait for… something to happen?” Yubin’s voice is gentle, and even though she doesn’t say it, Yoohyeon knows this is her way of apologizing. Yoohyeon’s frustration isn't her fault, though. They both know this and are both quick to forgive, so the snort Yoohyeon lets out is acceptance enough.

“That Ryu witch from Namyu? You only think her reliable because she absolutely adored you and your little staff tricks.”

“She is an excellent sorceress,” Yubin protests.

Yoohyeon goes through all of the effort to sit up, just so she can stare incredulously at her. “Her scroll-summoning spell sent us all the way to Figaro.”

“We were eventually headed that way anyway.”

“As _dolls_. For the remainder of that blue moon.”

Yubin shrugs in acceptance. “Alright, perhaps I can simply reciprocate appreciation from a beautiful woman.”

Before Yoohyeon can roll her eyes and make a snide comment, the cat perched on Yubin’s shoulder makes a noise that sounds uncannily like a scoff, and leaps gracefully onto Yoohyeon’s lap instead. It looks up at the dragonborne woman almost… sympathetically? and butts her hand until she reluctantly, and then with increasing fascination, pets its head. For someone used to cuddling into Pie’s scaly back or Yubin’s stiff elbows, the softness of its neatly groomed fur is astounding.

Yoohyeon absentmindedly rubs its ears. “What do you think its name is?”

Yubin doesn’t hesitate. “Ddoddo.”

“No, it’s definitely more of a Nannan.”

The cat shrugs off Yoohyeon’s hand and looks between the both of them, thoroughly unamused.

“How about…”

“Dongie!” 

Yoohyeon leaps across the room to scoop up the dragon egg as Yubin slams the window shade shut. The new voice carries through the barrier, loud and drawn out.

“Dongie, where are youuu?”

The cat hisses with distaste and dashes in a blur to take cover behind their travel packs. Another screeching call sends Pie to join her, cowering.

“Dongieee! ...Also, once again, a reminder to any lurking denizen of this forest: I have the power of the stars and Alpha Siyeon on my side!”

It takes the occupants of the hut another tense moment or two, but they eventually realize that the owner of the voice isn't right outside their window. They just have an extremely loud voice that carries even through the sinister whispers of Scar’s shadows. Impressive, but also worrying, since the dragon-searching duo thought this forest intimidating enough that normal humans would steer clear, at least long enough for them to hatch the second egg and plan their next move.

Yubin catches Yoohyeon’s eye from her crouch beneath the window and whispers, “Shall we put out the fire?”

Yoohyeon and Pie cock their heads in tandem, listening carefully. “...I think the voice is getting further away…?”

There is a sudden, rough knock on the door. Yoohyeon hadn’t heard anyone approach, and she yelps and trips over her own feet.

“Hello?” Whoever it is outside pauses, probably confused at the three very different sets of muffled hissing sounding off behind the door. “Are… you alright in there?”

This voice is far different from the previous one, low and gruff but not in a harsh way. It makes Yoohyeon relax a tad, but the fearless cat, surprisingly, is the one that hides even further behind one of Pie’s wings. The two mostly-humans have a furious argument with their eyes. Yoohyeon’s flash gray. Yubin’s narrow threateningly. Yoohyeon pretends to give in, and then as soon as Yubin reaches for her staff, she springs up and opens the door just a crack with her most convincingly innocent smile.

“Why, hello! Funny seeing another fellow human in this neck of the woods! Not often we get visitors!” Yoohyeon hears Yubin cough pointedly behind her, and smiles harder. “Not that… we live here permanently or anything, so… if you’re ever in the area, you should definitely _not_ come back to visit, because we won’t be here!”

“It smells in here.”

Yoohyeon’s smile cracks. “I’m… my apologies?”

The stranger sniffs the air like a bloodhound. It would make anyone else look silly, but there is something about her burly form and the silver furs that drape off of her shoulders down to her boots that make the action intimidating instead. The blood-red sun slips into night just as her sharp eyes suddenly flicker to meet Yoohyeon’s. This, combined with the chilling realization that their elven and dragon-blessed ears didn’t catch the stranger’s footfall despite her heavy leather boots, has Yoohyeon fighting with all her might for her eyes and breath to stay normal under a wave of anxiety.

“Smells like Dongie… but something…” she sniffs again, eyes narrowed as they flit from Yoohyeon to Yubin’s tense form near the fire, “...smells like…”

“Singnie! Did you find her?!”

The first voice breaks through the tension with another less distant yell. The clank of light armor and even puffs of breaths soon catch up with the continuous shouts, and Yoohyeon peers through the crack as another figure joins the suddenly stiff woman in furs in front of their door.

“...smells good.”

Yoohyeon watches in disbelief as the terrifying woman absolutely _melts_ into the arms of the smaller, louder one, who has let out a surprisingly soft laugh of surprise.

“Did you find her?”

“Mm. Found. Smells nice.” She nuzzles into her neck with a dopey grin.

“Alright, love. It’s past sunset, we have to make it to your _wonderful_ family.”

“Mm. Mhm. Family. With you.”

“My apologies, she’s not normally like this,” the smaller says, nightfall doing nothing to hide the blush that has settled on either side of her sharp nose. “Full moon and all. Our anniversary. Sorry to disturb your couple’s retreat — _Siyeon, don’t you dare bite right now_ — we’ll be on our way! If you see a pretty cat; orange, spits up hairballs with impeccable aim — do let the palace know! _Singnie, I swear to the stars—_ ”

Yoohyeon blinks once, and suddenly no one is at their doorstep. What looks like a large wolf dashes into the shadows some distance away. The panicked screaming from the woman on its back is much more warranted this time around.

She pulls the door shut slowly, still not quite sure if she should be worried or just confused right now. Turning, she gauges the reactions of her companions. Yubin looks at her like she is about to sigh with the weariness of a centuries-old elven elder, but she always looks like that. Pie looks as disgruntled as a small dragon can be. And the cat looks like this is nothing new.

The cat. The pretty, orange cat.

The ornate gemstone around its neck bounces as it hacks, and then spits a hairball right at the door.

Yoohyeon smiles weakly. “...Perhaps we could give those Sera spells a try?”

Now Yubin lets out her sigh.

Yoohyeon moves to gingerly set the speckled egg beside the fire again, and as she breathes a smoky kiss of reassurance to it, she prays to the stars that _something_ will coax it from its shell, and soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter: yoohyeon and yubin sitting in a tree, a-r-g-u-i-n-g
> 
> next chapter: minji and --
> 
> I'm having so much fun writing this, I hope you feel similar reading it!!

**Author's Note:**

> no pigs were harmed in the making of this story. wishing you a happy and healthy 2021!


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